Chapter 35: The Counselor and the Confession

But, trying to get over my feelings for Ban-ye was harder than I thought.

Because…

‘H-He’s too kind!’

Lately, Ban-ye seemed to be in a good mood, and he had become so kind to me.

It wasn’t a delusion.

His attitude toward me was genuinely different from before.

For instance.

‘Hyung, wake up.’

‘Huh… B-Ban-ye? Why are you in my room…?’

‘I came to wake you up.’

‘Oh… okay.’

He never used to do this before, but now he’d gently shake me awake in the morning.

‘Here you go.’

‘Huh?’

‘Weren’t you about to get some water?’

‘W-Well, yes, but.’

When I was eating and glanced at a cup, wanting some water, he would immediately get up and bring it to me.

Besides that, if I so much as glanced at something, he’d quickly get it for me or tidy it up, leaving me at a complete loss these days.

‘Why is he being like this…!’

It’s not that I had never experienced this before.

Sisi used to suddenly be nice to me whenever he needed money….

But Ban-ye wasn’t a piece of trash like Sisi….

B-But still….

Unable to abandon the budding sense of hope, I remained lost in my worries.

“So that’s the situation, what do you think…?”

“Hmm…. But, that level of kindness doesn’t necessarily mean he likes you… Isn’t that just normal?”

So, I brought this problem to ImSoCute, who had become my new counselor lately.

ImSoCute was flustered, but he was a realistic person, so his advice was quite helpful.

My only friends were from the game, so I had an unclear sense of how far kindness between friends could go.

My family was cold to me, too….

So I asked, and ImSoCute said that he could do that much even for someone he had no feelings for.

“S-So you’re saying he’s just being more friendly because we’ve gotten closer, not because he’s starting to like me or anything….”

“The probability of that is low.”

“Haaa… I-I see….”

“If someone likes you, they don’t make you confused. Hmm… at least, that’s how I am.”

Feeling a bit disappointed, I kept asking, “Then what about this?” or “What about that?” but ImSoCute was firm.

He’d only reply that those were things you could do between friends, and that I should absolutely not confess.

ImSoCute’s argument was this.

“A confession is something you do when you’re practically already dating, just without the official title. Confessing when you’re unsure is an attack.”

“A-An attack….”

“Your friend needs to think about the other person’s position too. If they were just being friendly, and suddenly get a confession of love, it’d be pretty bewildering, wouldn’t it?”

“…”

“They might even feel betrayed, and more than anything, I’m worried your friend… will get really hurt if they confess and get rejected. It would be better to suppress those feelings for now, and then slowly approach them after they’ve sorted out their heart.”

No matter how I listened, his words were rational, and in the end, I had no choice but to be convinced.

Still, I answered, a little dejected.

“…Okay. I’ll pass that along.”

There was a brief silence after that, and as I was thinking, a sudden thought struck me, and I asked ImSoCute.

“ImSoCute! But how do you know all this so well? You’re popular, aren’t you?”

“Me? No. I, well… I used to do a lot of ‘attacking’ in the past….”

Haha, ImSoCute said with a laugh, sounding embarrassed.

But his laugh didn’t sound pathetic; it sounded cool.

I suddenly became curious about what he looked like.

“ImSoCute, do you have a picture? I’m curious.”

“My picture? Should I show you?”

To my surprise, ImSoCute didn’t hesitate and readily agreed.

Excited, I exclaimed, “Yes, yes, yes!”

He quickly sent me a photo.

“Whoa…. what the! You’re handsome!”

“Haha, thank you.”

ImSoCute wore glasses and was a handsome man with an exemplary image, the type who looked like he’d pass any job interview.

I thought his gentle eyes matched his voice well.

And ImSoCute didn’t just send one photo.

He sent two more of him riding a bicycle.

…This guy is a real social butterfly.

I spoke in a deliberately grumpy tone.

“Hey, but how many pictures are you sending?”

“Ah, did I send too many?”

ImSoCute chuckled and stopped after the tenth picture.

I was looking through his bright-looking photos when I asked without much thought.

“Do you have any pictures without glasses?”

“I do. But I think I look better with them.”

He then sent a picture without his glasses, and contrary to his words, he looked handsome without them too.

I thought it was a bit unfair that a handsome guy was also good at games.

“Aren’t you going to show me a picture of you, Ah-ang?”

“…Huh? Me?”

But then ImSoCute asked me to show him my picture.

After he had shown me ten of his, it felt a bit cheap to say no now.

I hesitated, then picked a selfie I took on the day I went to the hair salon from my old photos and sent it to him.

ImSoCute praised me without missing a beat.

“You’re handsome too, Ah-ang. You’re cute.”

“…Even my parents don’t say that to me.”

“Why not? I’m being sincere.”

“…Thanks.”

I don’t normally like my appearance.

Plus, seeing people like Ban-ye and ImSoCute all the time lately had made my confidence drop even lower.

However, ImSoCute seemed to have noticed my mood.

“Why do you have so little confidence? Confidence is key for a man.”

“I’m short, too. Not even 180cm…. You’re over 180cm, right, ImSoCute?”

“I am, but… there are lots of popular guys who are short.”

“Hah…. I’m not one of them.”

“You don’t go out much, do you? If you widen your social circle, you’ll meet more people, and then you’ll find someone who clicks with you.”

“…”

From ImSoCute’s mature advice, I knew he was right, but… the person I wanted was already within my narrow circle.

The idea of having to search for someone else when I already had feelings for someone was something I understood with my head, but my heart wasn’t so easily convinced.

I abruptly asked ImSoCute.

“Have you ever gone from being friends to lovers?”

“Never. I failed every time.”

“…”

Even someone as handsome as ImSoCute had failed.

I bit my lip in frustration.

For someone who had answered so bluntly, ImSoCute uncharacteristically hesitated with a “Hmm….” before speaking, as if to console me.

“But Ah-ang, you’re plenty charming. A lot of people like cute guys.”

“…Cute….”

“Yes. Honestly, people with a bit of charm tend to do well in relationships. So, you’ll do fine.”

But they say starting is half the battle, and I couldn’t even start.

According to ImSoCute’s advice, confessing to Ban-ye was still out of the question, and transitioning from friends to lovers was a high-difficulty relationship skill that even a dating expert like ImSoCute had failed at.

Then, what about me….

I’m not handsome, nor am I a dating expert, so how on earth am I supposed to get over my feelings for Ban-ye?

“ImSoCute… honestly, if you were in my friend’s situation….”

“Yes?”

“For example, let’s say the other person was me. If I confessed, would you be able to date me?”

“…”

ImSoCute didn’t answer my gloomy question for a long time.

‘Of course not….’

I regretted asking.

Feeling suddenly embarrassed, I muttered, “Never mind….” but ImSoCute answered.

“Umm…. I think I’d have to consider it.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yep. I… like cute things.”

As he said that, ImSoCute kept pacing his character back and forth, circling around me as if he were still contemplating.

I got needlessly nervous.

I was swallowing hard when, at that moment, ImSoCute stopped walking.

Then, he used the [Putting Hands Together in Prayer] emote toward me.

“I’m sorry….”

Seeing that, I realized he had been completely messing with me, and my blood pressure shot up.

“Argh, you’re so mean!”

“Ahahaha!”

ImSoCute burst out laughing as if letting out all the laughter he had been holding back at once.

After laughing for a long time, he said to me, who was fuming.

“No, but Ah-ang. You don’t even like me.”

“…That’s true, but.”

“Then why are you getting angry? If anything, you should be rejecting me even if I said I wanted to date you.”

He was right, but it was still annoying.

I swung the alchemist’s beaker at ImSoCute.

Of course, since it wasn’t a PK field, it just passed right through him, but I think my frustrated feelings were conveyed well enough.

ImSoCute just chuckled and used the [Putting Hands Together in Prayer] emote on me again.